I am curious to know about what the starting wage is for a mechanic. I am considering a job change but need to make sure I can still take care of my family.

It depends on your skill level. Are you ASE certified? If not, for hourly, expect $10-$15/hr. If it is flat rate, the $ amount would be higher. The more training you have, the more $ you will make. I know guys that make $60-$80k a year on flat rate.

Not certified but I can be in few months time. Thanks for the info.

keep in mind that rate is a flat rate.
a good tech who works efficiently can pack 12 flat rate hours in an 8 hour day.

What are you thinking man. Why would you give up that cush job? Anyway if your serious get in contact with Lexi's Brother in-law. He works for a ford dealer and does pretty well. He also does alot of side business. Think about it seriously though, it may sound fun but after awhile coming home with black hands that wont come clean can get old.

To get paid on the upper end you would probably need to get some training though.

Later

Also, unless you get in with a good shop or a dealer, you would probably have to give up your benefits.

I've thought about getting training and doing it for a living too, but as frustrating as it can be sometimes working on my own cars, I think I'd go nuts having to work on other peoples too :eek:. Of course I don't have all of the right tools and equipment at close reach at home, and 60-80 G's a year might ease the pain somewhat :D....Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm sure the guys pulling in that much have many years of experience and training under their belt though

Of course I don't have all of the right tools and equipment at close reach at home, and 60-80 G's a year might ease the pain somewhat

yea, and they probably walk around in a white coat and are called technicians, and rarely turn wrenches. Hell to work on new cars you have to be a computer tech at the same time.

:)

Well i just started with two years of college at Nashville Auto Diesel College and when i got out i started at $27k a year salary at a off road shop. and im loving every minute of it. but dont expect 60-80k starting out. the only ppl i know making that kind of money have about 20-30 years of experiance.

Ever thought about bieng a Aircraft mechanic? With a AMT/A&P
you can do alot of different jobs. It opens alot of doors, from Aircraft, to Submarines,elevators. Not to brag or anything, but my first year working out of school @ 20 years old (2.5 years ago) i pulled in about 45K, of course i just got layed off. BTW that was working at a Aerospace company. There are some JC's that offer this course, but it is very time consuming. Just my .002

Originally posted by Welby
Of course I don't have all of the right tools and equipment at close reach at home, and 60-80 G's a year might ease the pain somewhat


but you need to think about how much money you hand over to Mac, Snap-On, and Matco every week.

Originally posted by FYRMAN



but you need to think about how much money you hand over to Mac, Snap-On, and Matco every week.

tax write-offs

Originally posted by Joe_W


tax write-offs

Only after 2,000$ spent, i spent around 5k a year in tool, so a 3,000 write off, comes so how into a 500re bate to you, the ticket is to deprecite them over the years, thats where a better rebate comes in

well I am a boat mechanic and after my first full year I made just over $66K I have no "formal" training just what I have picked up and taught myself...I say this isn't too bad for a 22 yr old...crappy part is I am away from home for about 4 months of the year because I work for a commercial fishing company...even though I am making great money I am quiting and going back to school to get a degree and get different job...I really dont want to be doing this when I'm 45 yrs old or older...think long and hard about it...I have known quite a few guys that have turned their hobbies into their livings and now they no longer enjoy their hobbies...

I have known quite a few guys that have turned their hobbies into their livings and now they no longer enjoy their hobbies...

Well said!:)

My kid has been a Toyota mechanic for about 2 years now. Prior to that he went to a co-op school for 2 years where he worked for 3 months and school for 3 months for the 2 years. Also worked every Saturday during the class sessions. Last year he made probably $40K. What held him back was the crappy economy. The vehicles were just not coming in. Many jobs he can do in 1/2 the book time or less since many are repetitive. He got beneifits after 90 days. Has to contribute towards the health though. Also probably spends $200+/month on new tools to help the jobs go faster (faster = more $). The school had deals on certain MAC tool boxes (about 50% off) so he got the big mothers. Was even a better deal since I bought the boxes for him.

If you want to work at a dealership (vs independent place) look into which vehicles are easier to work on (ford/chevy/toyota/etc). Some are more of a pain than others. The kid swears by Toyota though. Oh yeah he has to work every other Saturday also. There are all kinds of tricks to make more money. On new vehicles that come in he always runs the VIN# to find any TSBs the factory pays for. Says they are gravy.

Of course there is politics too. You don't want to piss your service writer off unless you want to get the shit jobs and miss out on the gravy ones. And then there is your team leader. Where my son works the leader has 3 or 4 guys on his team and gets 50 cents/hour for each guy on his team (based on the number of hours logged by each guy). My son doesn't mind that because his team leader is pro active with his team members and helps with diagnoising weird problems and is the 3rd hand when you need it.
Good luck

P.S they don't come home with dirty hands any more. Many of them wear throw away latex gloves (go thru 10+ pair a day). But at 12-15 cents a pair its still cheap

Making money doing something you love (or at least enjoy) is a great thing. Not everyone gets to do that. Take advantage of it if you have the chance.

I love my job. I loved my previous job - owning a car stereo shop and installing. I left the business because I moved 1,000 miles. Still, I enjoyed what I did. I have some bad days but it's still better than a good day at a job I could care less about (or cares less about me).

Do what you love and the money will follow. Be the best at what you do and have a bit of common sense and you'll be fine.

Hef

Been wrenching for 28 years now and if I had to do it over again I would stay in school and go on to somethng more high-tech such as aircraft or ? The amount of continual schooling to keep up with the technology just to do a correct tune-up or diagnos---well-- just about anything for that matter plus the amount of technical/electrical tools scanners, labscopes, hand held dvoms, the-list goes on. In the amount of time I've been working on cars and trucks I've got --no kidding-- probably close to 85-90 grand in tools and diagnostic equipment. If your serious about the automotive field consider sticking with one brand of car such as toyota or honda or chevy, you get the idea. As stated before the techs making the 60 to 80 a year have put in lots of hours and have paid lots of dues to get get the so called gravy work to flag the 12 to 15 hours per day to hit the 60+ a year, it also depends on the dealership you work in and how busy they stay in the slow times of the year. I could go on but you get the idea.

after working on vehicles all week it is NO fun working on
your own on the weekend..nice perks though..
never have to pay somebody else to work on car...

I have been a mechanic for 15+ years, I have worked for ford, GM, and toyota, as well as many independant shops.
I got real sick of it, always under the gun, never knowing what next month will hold as far as hours / take home pay.
It got old, and I didn't want to work on my own stuff anymore.
Now at 35 I am inrolled in a welding certification program. I will be done in 15 weeks, and will hopefully start a new career at that time.

If you do get into the buis. Get on with Toyota, and stay there.
Not just any toyota dealer, get with a big shop that has alot of cars roll through every day. I made real good money at a toyota dealership that employed 45 techs, averaging 12 hours a day, then moved and went to work at a dealership that had 9 guys and went broke making only 20 hours all week.
Toyota pays the best flat rate, and they don't break down, I love chevys, but chevy and ford are putting out a crappy product. there's 75% warrenty work with GM or Ford, and about 7% with toyota.

Good luck in what ever you do.

LOL I learn faster then all of you.
I wrenched for 6 years, ASE master, CA smog with L1
got sick of it, I changed shops a lot!, i got pissed off at my last employer and just walked out. Sat on unemplyoment for 3 months, then got a job doing web desgin,
The best part is, I already have just about all the tools a "home mechinc" or side job guy needs, :D:D:D:D:D

Wrenchin on other people's junk Sucks...

You don't want to fix your junk when you have been in a shop all day .

I went through a 2 year Tech school after Boeing laid me off, for my own skill advancement. Got Ase certs in all 8 cat's, worked for 2 years in an Alignment shop. Yeah I made good $$$ but I hated being cooped up in a smaggy shop all day.

So I went back into Hvac, which I did before Boeing, don't miss the grease ONE FRICKIN BIT:flipoff2:

I'm in the same boat. I do mainframe operations right now and f-ing hate it. Bunch of nit picking eggheads with nothing better to do then bug me about a job that ran three days ago.

I work with someone who falls asleep every single night and nothing happens to her except she might HAVE to go to days. I've been pissing and moaning to go to days for two years!! The last person who fell asleep (next to our manager) was put on days.:rolleyes: "she had a medical condition". I guess sleep apnia(sp) is a medical condition.

My girlfriend is going back to school to be a vet tech and will be done here in about 4 months. She also got out of computers.

My problem is that after she get done we want to move out of Colorado and head to the sticks and get some land. Big problem is that there arn't any computer jobs in the sticks and I hate computers. I make good money right now but i'd be willing to make 50% less just to not have to be a vampire and hate waking up to go to work.

How long does it take to become ASE certified?

It takes 2 years to get the required time to become certified. but if you go to training schools or took auto mechanics in school you can get it in less time.

im a starting tech for ford and i got 13.50 hourly to start and am looking at around 22 dollars an hour flat rate in a fairly small town but ihave a lot of experience from schooling to having gotten 4 ase certs and time working as a mech for a construction company... but it all depends on where you go and what you know and if you know how to talk to the boss...

Ive been a tech for 22 years. Not too bad a way to make a living. Get VERY familar and comfortable with eletronics and computer systems. Learn the product you work on inside and out. Personally I'd recomend the import line, moreso, high line european imports such as BMW or Benz. The money is better, engineering styles are more straightfoward and they are not getting any simpler to repair. (which means more $$$$$$)

The politics of a dealership are a pain in the ass however, for training and product knowledge I recomend everyone to do a stint in one. The knowledge you gain from this experience is enough to carry you for 10 years in the indy world. I specilise in Benz but have factory training in Mazda and Toyota as well. The biggest downfall to the dealership world is warrenty times, which in general suck. However, in the case of Benz you can stack op codes, get most diag time covered and get paid for the actual repair.

Be prepared for a VERY steep learning curve but read, read, read and get as good as you can get on subsystems and drivetrain diagnostics. Thats where the money is at. Not to mention those long task, high teardown jobs such as s class 92to99 evaps, 27 hours and it can be done and done right by 2 people in 3 1/3 hours. (Me and Lumpy have done 'en in 3 hours and 15 minites before.)

One easy trap to fall into is what I refer to as commision technican blues, where you feel like to more you know the more your punished by doing bullshit hardcore repairs while the slacker/hack beside you is sucking gravy. Then you start seeing the $$$$$$ before you actually fix the car. Bad JUJU. One rule of thumb I use is simple, fix the car, the money will come.

Diagnostics, trim, high level teardown and subsystem repair (such as the convertable top hydralics on SL's) are where the money is as not too many people can get a grip on what makes these things tick, or they are just too damn hamfisted to get one apart without destroying most of the attaching pieces. A good example of hamfist repair work is this 02 X5 I have in the shop, the r/h door panel looks like someone chewed it off with their teeth. So much for reading the disassembly instructions.

I'd get all the certs you can, especially if the company is buying. Get all the product knowledge you can (it pays off in the long run to know how they things are supposed to work) and work your way into a posistion that allows you the luxury of staying clean while makin' decent money.



Joe

If I was to become a mechanic like quite a few members of my family are, I would be looking at heavy duty (Class 8) instead of automotive. More room to work on them in most cases, engines and control systems are used for longer periods and are more unified in design. And has been my experience when helping my bro in law at his shop - when they are broke, the owner/operator wants them fixed NOW because no truck=no $$$$.

Several years ago I worked at a dealership(Chevy) as a detailer/gofer and it was a eye oppening experance. Some of the things that they did was beyond legal and if the customer knew that was happening they would be pissed.

I understand computers and OBD crap but electrical work is killing me. I don't understand it at all and all of the new cars are all sensers, relays, and crap. My girlfriends Chevy wouldn't start in the mornings. Why? Temp senser thought it was hot already. This is the main reason that i'm thinking about welding and not automotive.

P.S. I also learned that a good tranny man can take a th350 apart, get baked at lunch, and put it back together and install it in two hours.

I work for a small shop (4 stores total). I've been with them for about 7 years, and have a few ase certs. I still only make about 26 a year and have to work on anything that comes in the garage! I love my job, and still love working on my own and my friends stuff. Guess that's dedication to automotive stuff. Time to look for a higher pay!

Originally posted by jasonmt
If I was to become a mechanic like quite a few members of my family are, I would be looking at heavy duty (Class 8) instead of automotive. More room to work on them in most cases, engines and control systems are used for longer periods and are more unified in design. And has been my experience when helping my bro in law at his shop - when they are broke, the owner/operator wants them fixed NOW because no truck=no $$$$.

Thats where I'm at. Seven years in the field now. I started with a job at only $8.00/hour. I have worked one job (a Frieghtliner dealership) that was $55,000 a year. The differences between shops is amazing. When I was at Freightliner, it was schooling of some sort every couple months, overtime, quality shop tooling, lots of electronic work, parts always available, shitty benefits.
The managment sucked though, real high and fire kind of place (reason I am not there anymore).
I am at a Kenworth dealership now. Much less money, mostly chassis work (springs, suspension, trannies, diffs) which is physically demanding, dirty cramped shop, no shop tooling, and managment still sucks.
I totally disagree with there being more room to work on things on heavy duty trucks. You have to contort your self in all sorts of positions to reach things (trannies, engine components) that you often have to feel, not see. Engines, trannies, diffs, and brake systems are all mostly standardized. This make it a lot easier to switch from shop to shop. Which is something techs seem to do often in this field. I know of only a couple techs that have worked at any particular shop for more than a couple years. In the 7 years I have been in the field, I have worked at 7 different shops (laid off from one shop, fired from two, left the others voluntarily).
The firings were over stupid politics. Every shop has a foreman whose ego has to be stroked:rolleyes: . The lay off was from the yearly winter slow down. Every winter, I lose hours (everybody loses hours) due to no work.